Beastly Build

Approach this mechanical carnivore with caution!

The wolf-like mechanoid beast towers far above the treetops. The pedestal it rests on is barely able to contain its fierce frame; this is most definitely not a gentle giant. This is Carbon Roar a ferocious new build from the aptly named, Be_a_St.

“The beast had to have a mane - which I think looks splendid on lions - and I also wanted some aggressive features such as fangs, claws, scars as well as an overall threatening pose,” its creator Be_a_St explains. Er, mission accomplished!

Please don't leave it near me alone.

“To enhance the aggressive look of the beast I chose carbon as one of the most prominent materials for the cyborg parts,” explains Be_a_St. It certainly carries an aura of aggression! And yet, this skyscraping cyborg monster also has an almost spiritual aura.

“I also wanted the beast to look graceful, so I tried to enhance the overall look with a light aureole. This is also a reference to me, my pseudo being Be_a_St, which can be read ‘Beast’ but also ‘Be a Saint’.”

The mysteriously raised paw of Carbon Roar, too, has some of the same ambiguity: is the beast attacking or perhaps blessing someone? Hopefully the latter.

How does one go about tackling a beast of a project like this? “I do not plan my creations, I am freestyling most of the time,” claims Be_a_St.

“For Carbon Roar I had a very rough idea of the pose I wanted the beast to have. I setup a stickman frame with spheres for the joints and started wireframing the body. When the full body was finished, I incorporated the machine/cyborg parts over the skin.

“I did these mechanical parts separately from the organic before grafting [them] to it.” Apart from claws that looked too much “like noodles” at earlier stages, Be_a_St explains that the main challenge was simply “to keep my motivation up to finish this project. Being a slow builder, I am rarely satisfied with what I do, so I always retry and retry until the build suits me the most.”

TOM: Some work-in-progress shots of Carbon Roar! The first one reminds me of a Fallout 4 mod I played that dressed up all the Deathclaws as pro wrestler Randy Savage. I still have nightmares.

TOM: Some work-in-progress shots of Carbon Roar! The first one reminds me of a Fallout 4 mod I played that dressed up all the Deathclaws as pro wrestler Randy Savage. I still have nightmares.

TOM: Some work-in-progress shots of Carbon Roar! The first one reminds me of a Fallout 4 mod I played that dressed up all the Deathclaws as pro wrestler Randy Savage. I still have nightmares.

But while the creation of the beast took ‘just’ one and a half months, it would be a full one and a half years until the project was complete.

“Right after I finished it I was drained of my motivation and completely ran out of creativity,” explains Be_a_St. “I felt like there was nothing left to do so I got bored and disappeared.”

Fortunately, Be_a_St eventually overcame this crisis of faith and, after applying the finishing touches - such as adding the “pedestal with a little landscape to underline the size of the beast” - finally presented it to the community.

“This project is very much a testimony to all the unfinished projects that we have and lack the motivation to finish. If it started by being an illustration of my roaring motivation, it certainly took a different meaning thereafter.”

Be_a_St’s building career started off after discovering Minecraft in 2012 and realizing “that I was more interested into the architecture of my base and the way I could fit it into the landscape, rather than the survival mode itself.” Moving on to creative servers in 2013, Be_a_St ended up joining the NewHeaven after several years of creating maps for the major French creative server Epicube.

“I applied for NewHeaven and, after a first failed organic attempt, I built a structure that got me into the team. There I met very nice and talented people that I am still in contact with. By building with them I improved a lot but also got to realize that team projects weren’t exactly my thing. Being a very impulsive builder I really dislike doing long term projects.”

Carbon Roar has the distinction of being Be_a_St’s first large scale solo project. “I wanted to pull off a complete project on my own (my previous larger scale organic was made with a good friend) because I felt like I rarely did something fully by myself.”

He also has advice for novice builders: “Do not watch too many building tutorials because it will bias your ability to approach a project. Watch tools tutorials instead on WolrdEdit, VoxelSniper, GoBrush and others.”

“If you particularly want to improve at organics I advise you to watch a Masterclass by Hytherde on Youtube about wireframing for organics. Becoming a skilled builder requires patience and constant efforts to improve. Find a server or build team where you feel comfortable and inspired and keep it up!”

Great tips! Here's a bonus one from me: if you see any creature that looks remotely like Carbon Roar, turn around and keep running and running and running for the rest of your life. Good luck!